


Even In Death Their Legacy Lives

by Sparky_Stark



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Bedridden Tony, Bruce tells him off for it, F/M, Hurt Tony Stark, Insecure Tony, Iron Man 3 spoliers, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Bruce, The Media is horrible, Tony and Bruce fluff, Tony calls his daughter 'It', Tony is poisoned, bruce is very unsympathetic, the sink bites Tony, things explode because Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-01
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2017-12-10 03:19:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/781170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparky_Stark/pseuds/Sparky_Stark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was desperate. After waiting for over an hour for Anthony Stark, he was feeling desperate. Desperate enough, for a moment, to die, to kill himself. Desperate enough for revenge. And revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold. So he would wait. He would wait 14 years. Only to die before he ever saw the fruits of his labour. Tragic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Maria Rebecca

**Author's Note:**

> Slight AU from end of Iron Man 3.
> 
> CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!
> 
> Tony keeps the arc reactor.

 

He was desperate. After waiting for over an hour for Anthony Stark, he was feeling desperate. Desperate enough, for a moment, to die, to kill himself. Desperate enough for revenge. And revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold. So he would wait. He would wait 14 years. Only to die before he ever saw the fruits of his labour. Tragic.

**_ 14 Years Later _ **

“Tony.” Bruce Banner shouted to his boyfriend through the intercom. “Tony!” He called again, after getting no reply. Silence.

“Yes dear?” Tony spoke suddenly from behind him. Bruce jumped and spun.

“Shit, Sparks, don’t creep up on me like that.”

“Sorry.” Tony leaned over to peck Bruce’s cheek.

“No you’re not.” Bruce mumbled under his breath. Tony grinned at him, an impish, childlike grin. Bruce sighed.

“What did you want?”

“Miami Dade Police Department on the phone for you.” Bruce raised an eyebrow at Tony’s innocent look. “Tony…” Bruce trailed of in warning.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear… This time.” Bruce shook his head fondly and smiled.

“Just go take the call, Tony.”

**_Miami_ **

“Funny that,” the blue clothed man said, “He didn’t seem to know of any Maria. Not one that was alive at any rate. So how about you tell me who you really are, eh? And we’ll see if we can forget this whole nasty business of lying to a police officer.”

“I’m not lying.” Maria muttered.

“Oh really? I suppose you’ve got proof of that then? It’s not everyday someone walks in after being caught breaking in to a shop, claiming to be Tony Stark’s long lost daughter now is it? And even if you were I can’t imagine him letting you go all this time on the streets like you claim. So, tell me why I shouldn’t just lock you up and be done with it.”

“So just because it never made the news it’s not true? What kind of ridiculous logic is that!?”

“The kind that lets me keep my job. Now, unless you can provide me with some proof of your identity I’ll have no choice but to lock you up and call CPS. So, what’s it going to be?” Maria sighed.

“My mother was doctor Maya Hansen. She was a botanist. She met Stark on new year’s eve, 1999. He saw her die just over a two months ago… She was,” Maria put her head in her hands. “She was working with Aldrich Killian. Helped make the Extremis.”

“Likely story.” The man sneered. “How many of these do we have to go through before you tell the truth?” Maria stared at him and refused to speak. The officer turned to another. “Is Stark still on the line? Okay, ask him about a Maya Hansen. You’re sure?” He raised a speculative eyebrow at Maria. “See if he’ll consent to a paternity test while I contact child protective services. Don’t. Move.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

**_ Malibu _ **

“What was all that about?” Bruce asked when he heard Tony walk into the room. Silence. “Sparks?” Bruce turned around to see Tony’s face. Tony’s now ashen face. “Tony?” Bruce’s voice soften considerably as he took in his boyfriend’s appearance. His hair was a mess, more so than usual, and his eyes were dull. Bruce walked slowly towards Tony, softly placing a hand on his shoulder. At the contact Tony collapsed onto the sofa behind him.

“Fuck.” He breathed. “Just…. Fuck.”

Bruce could sense it’s something Tony didn’t want to talk about and so contented himself with sitting, silently, waiting for Tony to speak first. It doesn’t take long, even if Tony is reluctant to talk about something, he tells Bruce everything.

“I have a kid. I honestly, truly, have a kid.”

“How old?” Simple questions work best at these moments, Bruce knew this. Bruce knows Tony.

“14, they think.” 3 words, Bruce was surprised.

“Girl or boy?”

“Girl.”

“Name?”

“Maria.” Bruce nodded and pulled Tony close to him.

“Mother?”

“…Maya.” Tony flinched as he said her name. Bruce ran his hand up and down Tony’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“Where?”

“Miami.”

“They’re sure?”

“No.”

“But you are?”

“Yes.”

“Paternity test?”

“Soon.” Bruce nodded. “You’re leaving in half and hour. Pack a bag.” Bruce nodded, he knew Tony meant pack a bag for the both of them, and that’s what he did.

**_ Miami _ **

“Alright, kid, I’ve had just about enough of you. Lucky for you, the owner isn’t pressing charges. You’re free to go. Child protective services are here to talk to you. I hope I never have to see your face around here again.” The officer opened the door and handed Maria her bag.

Maria waltzed out of the room and right into Tony Stark, sat on a chair in the station. She quickly backtracked and headed in the opposite direction before he could notice her. She backed straight into the officer who had just been questioning her. He glared down at her and pushed her forwards. Maria stumbled back to Tony who looked up at the noise of her shuffling feet.

Tony’s eyes were red rimmed, his face had been in his hands trying to hide the fact he was crying. There was a case next to him, Maria wondered what was in it. Was it his suit? He did get there pretty fast… And there was no Bruce, everyone knew about Bruce. Tony looked up at the police officer. “Her?” The officer nodded at Tony and walked off.

In the next second a hand was out in front of Maria. She looked up, only just noticing the brunette woman sat next to Tony. Dressed in a suit, the woman looked very professional. She introduced herself as someone from child protective services, Maria didn’t really pay attention to much until.

“… we discern who your father is, you will be staying in one of our homes-”

“No!” Maria shouted. Both adults looked at her. “I have a home.”

“You’ve been living on the streets, Maria, and you’re a minor. Everything your mother had has been left to you, but you can’t live alone-”

“I am perfectly capable of-”

“Furthermore,” The woman cut her off. “If you remain on the streets it could lead to a life of crime and drugs, which is not something any of us want to see a young person go through when they could have help.”

“I don’t need help.” Maria ground out. Why were they treating her like she was three years old?

“It’s this or the probability of ending up in juvenile detention in a few months. Now I know which one I’d rather do…” Maria glared at the professional.

“Fine.”

“We’re going to get a paternity test to verify your story. If it turns out that Mr. Stark is your father, legal guardianship will go to him and you will move with him to his residence.”

“My mother never wanted this. She didn’t want him to know.” The woman laid a hand on Maria’s shoulder.

“Your mother had something to hide, Maria, she was obviously trying to protect herself-” Maria shrugged the hand off viciously and glared.

“Don’t you dare talk about my mother like you knew her. Like you know her. You don’t know a thing about me or her. Just leave me alone.” Maria made to run out of the door. Tony’s hand caught Maria’s arm on instinct. She looked into his eyes and deflated. “Alright, what do I have to do?”


	2. Chapter 2

_ **New York** _

Bruce sat in Stark Tower, waiting. When Tony had said left for Miami, he assumed that both of them would be going, not just Tony. So, Bruce got on Tony’s jet and left, unwittingly, for New York.

He wasn’t sure how long he waited there for Tony, he lost track of time when he fell asleep, but he knew it had been a while by the position of the sun. He stretched and peeled himself from the sofa slowly, wondering where, exactly, Tony had got to.

He decided to cook. Enough for both of them in case Tony came tonight and if not then he could easily freeze it.

By the time it was ready, Tony had arrived, 14 year old girl, daughter, in tow. Tony took in the girl’s appearance. From the pictures Tony had shown him of Maya, he could tell this girl was her daughter. Same eyes, nose... face in general really. There was only one slight difference, her hair colour. It was still brown, just darker, but cut in the same style. She was a mini Maya.

Bruce noticed her posture next. She was very closed off, defensive, with her arms folded across her chest and hand gripping her bag protectively. She was a few steps behind Tony who looked older than his years. Bruce cleaned his hands on the kitchen towel he had slung over his shoulder and took Tony’s hand.

Maria hung by the elevator as Bruce dragged Tony off to the side and started talking. He dropped the duffel bag she was carrying and walked slowly to the window. Looking out on New York City, Maria felt lost. Sure, she’d lived in cities her entire life, moving around for her mother’s research, even spent some time in New York a few years back. But even with this, the fact that she knew her way around, she was still lost. Completely and utterly lost. Staring out at the big city, she realised she never had a home, never had a family. Never belonged.

She cast a glance at Tony and Bruce, hugging and being all… close. Maria felt a stab of jealousy course through her veins. She remembered every close moment she had ever shared with her mother, and there were actually quite a lot, but even so. Maria always felt like her mother had something to hide, could always feel a strain in their relationship, because she wanted to know. For the longest time, she wanted to know who her father was and for the longest time, Maya wouldn’t tell her.

That’s the thing. Maria, as much as she loved her, never trusted her mother. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t even believe that Tony really was her father. So maybe this paternity test will come back negative and Tony would stop caring about her and let her go back to her life. The life where she was free. Where she didn’t have to admit to Maya Hansen being her mother.

Maria could hear the constant murmuring of the two men in the room. It made her uncomfortable. “Hey,” She called over to them. Both men turned their heads towards her and she suddenly felt rude for interrupting their moment. She shrunk back into herself and stuttered a little. “I, uh, I’m… Look, I’m just really tired, can I…” Maria trailed off, unsure how to finish her sentence. Bruce was the one to answer her.

“Sure, I’ll show you the guest room.“ He paused mid step. “And Tony?” Tony turned his head to Bruce. “Eat something.” Tony grumbled and stalked into the kitchen. Bruce wandered over to Maria’s abandoned bag and picked it up. Maria took her cue and followed Bruce as he wandered around the penthouse, leading her to a guest bedroom.

Bruce walked in first and held the door open for Maria to follow. They stood in silence for a long while, it was awkward, it was uncomfortable and Maria just wanted it to end. Eventually, Bruce cleared his throat. “If you need anything, just ask J.A.R.V.I.S., he’ll tell you where everything is. He’ll be programmed to listen to you by now I should think.”

“Programmed?” Maria cocked her head curiously.

“J.A.R.V.I. S. is… the computer that runs the place, put simply. don’t worry, you’ll figure things out.” Maria nodded which Bruce took as his cue to leave the room. Maria flopped onto the bed.

Out of the room, Bruce leant against the wall, the awkwardness of the situation not yet gone from his body. No way was he going to give Tony something to tease him about. He stayed there for a while, staring into nothing... space... thin air, until he heard a crash. And a yell. And a curse.

Tony.

Bruce followed the stream of angry noises until he found Tony in the kitchen, yelling and cursing at inanimate objects. Bruce rolled his eyes. “Tony, what did the poor tap ever do to you?”

“It bit me!” Tony said petulantly. Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“Really? The tap bit you?”

“Yes! It did.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest.

“Really? It just jumped up and bit you?”

“Well… no, I was fiddling with it, trying to make it better, you know, help it and it bit me! Look.” Tony held his hand out for Bruce to see. There was a small trail of red blood running down his thumb. Bruce shook his head and took Tony’s hand in his. He leant his head down and kissed the small cut. Tony smiled manically.

“Better?” Bruce asked. Tony nodded and turned back to the sink, continuing with his fiddling. “So even after the sink bit,” Bruce scoffed. “You. You’re still going to fiddle with it?”

“Yes.” Bruce shook his head and sighed.

“Come on, Tony, it’s late. You need sleep.” Tony whined as if he’d just had his favourite toy taken away from him. “Now.” Bruce grabbed Tony’s hand and dragged him along while he protested loudly. They walked past Maria’s door and Tony poked his head it.

He saw Maria, his daughter, on her bed, asleep with her hair spread out like a halo. Mini Maya, he thought fondly, please don’t let me screw this up.

Gently, he closed the door behind him and followed Bruce silently to the bedroom, no longer protesting. He was exhausted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da. Hope you enjoyed. :)


	3. Tony's Hiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone's sneaking around. Maria wants to know who. It's not what she expected.

Maria was cold when she woke up the next morning and instantly regretted her decision to sleep on top of the covers rather that under them. She peeled herself from the bed and pulled at her skin. She was dirty, her hair was greasy and, to be quite frank, she smelt… a fair bit. Silently, she wondered where the bathroom was. She had no idea how to get _anywhere_ in this place, and she wasn’t going to go searching if she might run into something… unsavoury.

So, instead, she stayed on the bed, unwilling to move and only just realising just how tired she really was. After being on the streets, running for two months solid she was exhausted and so fell easily into another three hours of sleep because she just really couldn’t be bothered. With anything. Ever.

She heard someone walk past her door about two hours later and whoever it was, was sneaking. And not the kind of sneaking when you’re trying not to wake someone up. The kind when you’re doing something, or being somewhere, you really, really shouldn’t be. Maria sat up on her bed and slid off slowly so as not to alert the person to her presence.

Her bare feet padded down the hallway, almost silently, as she followed the… intruder? She wasn’t sure. She was lead through a labyrinth, in her opinion, of hallways and stairs until she reached a workshop. Pieces of scrap metal were scattered around the room without a care. She heard a faint voice seemingly talking to himself.

“J.A.R.V.I.S, pull up my vitals would you?”

“Of course, sir. Is there any particular reason?” A mechanic, British voice asked. Maria edged closer to the door to get a better view. She saw Tony, so it wasn’t an intruder, run a hand down his face. He looked tired, worn out, old. But most of all, he looked worried.

“Not that you need to know, J.A.R.V.I.S. Not yet, anyway.” From her position, Maria couldn’t see what J.A.R.V.I.S. was displaying, but from the way Tony slouched in his chair, she assumed that it wasn’t good. She peaked further around the corner and saw Tony running a hand through his hair. 

She cocked her head to get a better view of the screens she knew were in front of Tony but ended up falling over. Tony’s head snapped in her direction but she was hidden. “J.A.R.V.I.S.? Take everything down.”

“Of course, sir.”

“And tell me who’s outside.”

“I believe it to be Miss Stark.” From the other side of the door Maria cursed. Tony’s head shot up.

“Miss _Stark_?” He stressed the name, confused.

“Yes, sir. Her birth certificate names her as ‘Stark’. I assumed that is what she would be called.”

“I, uh… Huh?”

“When you programmed me to listen to Miss Stark, you didn’t give a full name. I did some research.”

"Uh-huh." Maria took Tony's momentary distraction as a chance to leave, quickly and quietly.

She tried to remember the way she had come. Down the stairs, left, right, right ,left… or was it right, left, left, right? She really wished Tony had made the place smaller, if only so she could run from him and know how not to bump into him much more easily. After dragging herself around the place for about half an hour she ended up in the kitchen, she remembered the way to her room from there… maybe.

It took another ten minutes but she found her room, the guest room, was it hers now? Tony was inside, waiting. Maria lingered awkwardly by the door. She didn’t want to be the first to speak. But Tony hadn’t looked up yet and it seemed obvious that he wasn’t going to leave the room until he spoke to her. She cleared her throat and immediately looked down, suddenly finding her feet incredibly interesting. Tony looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t pass his lips.

“Whatever you saw, or heard, back there. It’s nothing to worry about.” Tony spoke awkwardly. Maria nodded. “It’s under control.”

“Well, I don’t know what ‘it’ is, but ok.” She shrugged. Tony sagged, seemingly from relief, and left the room. “Hey!” Maria called after him. “Um, where’s the bathroom?” Tony smiled a little and gestured for her to follow him. They passed two doors before Tony gestured to the bathroom. Maria nodded and ran back to the room to grab some clothes. Tony was still by the door when she got back. “Uh, is there something you want to say…?”

“I, uh, yes. Actually, it can wait.” Tony wandered off, not waiting for Maria to reply to him.

In the bathroom Maria thought about what Tony had said ‘ _Whatever you saw, or heard, back there. It’s nothing to worry about. It’s under control’_ So, obviously, there was something wrong. But, strangely, Maria believed him when he said it was under control assuming he had told Bruce already and they were doing something about it.

Maria took a long time in the shower, washing away the grime from the last two months. She hadn’t dared return home in case someone was there and waiting for her. She didn’t want to end up in a care home. So she roamed the streets for two weeks, until she got desperate. She’d run out of the food she’d brought with her and she hadn’t even thought about bringing money. She was starving, and tired and fed up. So she tried to steal something. It was only a sandwich and a bag of crisps, but the police still got involved. She still got arrested. Tony still found out he was her father. That was something she had been trying to avoid.

The next time Maria saw Tony was at breakfast. Apparently, Bruce was quite a good cook an often made breakfast for Tony is they weren’t out on a mission or something. The meal was silent and awkward and Maria excused herself as quickly as possible. Bruce followed after giving Tony a look that clearly said ‘something’s wrong.’ and he made no move to do anything to find out what.

Bruce found Maria tinkering with some electronic device or other in her room. It looked like a cannibalised mp3 player but Bruce couldn’t be sure. Maria was so absorbed in whatever it was, thought, that even after Bruce had called her name six times she still hadn’t heard him. Or maybe she was just ignoring him, Bruce couldn’t be sure. Either way, he decided that it might be best to leave it for now. He could talk to her later.

 


	4. Family Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of family time... cannibalising machines together is one heck of a way to bond... Or argue.

“Maria.” Bruce shouted from the kitchen of the New York apartment, if it was really able to be called that. “Maria!” Bruce shouted again upon getting no reply. Bruce sighed and tried to shout Tony . The same result. Groaning, Bruce wiped his hands on a towel before going in search of the AWOL Starks.

“Tony?” Bruce asked when he put his head around the door of Tony’s workshop.

“No.” Bruce jumped back a little and turned to face the voice. Sat on one of the work spaces was Maria, Dummy chatting at her animatedly and Maria nodding along. “Sorry to disappoint.” She jumped down and walked over to him.

“What are you… How did you even get in here?” Bruce asked, mystified.

“Huh? Oh, Tony let me in as long as I promised not to touch any of his projects. I needed to run some tests on this.” Maria gestured to the mp3 player she was modifying earlier.

“Yeah, um, what exactly _is_  that?”

“I was just making it run faster, I can’t play my games very well on it at the minute. I busted the last update when I dropped it in a fountain while I was on the streets. Which reminds me, I need to make this thing water proof…” Maria’s hand moved towards some tool or other until Bruce spoke up.

“Later,” He told her. “Food first.”

“Not hungry.” Maria waved him off but her stomach growled to prove she was lying. Bruce stood by the door and raised an eyebrow. “In my defence, I haven’t actually eaten a proper meal in, like, two weeks.” Maria stated as if being hungry was something to be ashamed of.

“Come on.” Maria slid off the table to follow Bruce from the room since she still needed direction around Stark Labyrinth if you asked Maria.

Deciding that actually managing to find one Stark was hard enough, Bruce asked J.A.R.V.I.S to inform Tony that he needed to eat and to come to the kitchen right now. Tony waltzed into the room about five minutes after Maria and Bruce had sat down with plates of chicken korma in front of them. Tony wrinkled his nose a little but after a stern look from Bruce he stopped even though he still whined that he wanted pizza.

“Sit.” Bruce ordered. Tony did as he was told while Maria did her best to hide the grin forming on her lips by shovelling more food into her mouth. “Slow down there, kiddo.” Bruce laughed.

“Sorry.” Maria muttered. “Hungry, I guess.” Bruce murmured something that sounded suspiciously like ‘like father like daughter’ under his breath while shaking his head. Sometimes he thought that if he wasn’t there, Tony wouldn’t eat at all and the Avengers would find the billionaire in a heap on the floor every time they came over.

“So,” Tony started awkwardly, “How’s your machine going?”

“Meh, it’s a bit dull, really. Nothing I haven’t done a zillion times before. I just need to figure out the best way to make it water proof without ruining the awesome paint job I just did on it… Any new suits in the making or are you leaving your Iron Man days in the explosion?” Maria asked. Tony shrugged at his daughter.

“Maybe, maybe not. I won’t be doing anything soon, though. Maybe when he’s needed again, or I might pass on the torch, so to speak.”

“As long as neither of you two do anything reckless, I don’t care what you get up to in that workshop of yours, Tony.” Bruce put in. Maria grinned.

“So if I was, to say, make a gun, I wouldn’t be allowed?” Maria asked, seemingly innocently.

“No, you can make the gun if you must. You just can’t use it without supervision… Either of you.”

“Spoil sport.” The Starks grumbled in sync eliciting a little chuckle from Bruce. The meal continued in silence, less strained than before, but still not completely comfortable. As soon as both Starks had finished, they ran from the table without a word to the ‘cave’ as Bruce fondly referred to the workshop as.

Bruce was left to clear up without any help, not that he ever expected any from Tony Stark. Bruce hummed as he worked, cleaning was, sadly, the only time he really got to relax. Usually, he was working in his lab or helping Tony with whatever new project he was working on. Or sometimes, in meetings with Pepper when Tony couldn’t be bothered to turn up himself. But Bruce didn’t mind, it kept him busy and most of the time, he enjoyed it. But not when he was being berated by Pepper for Tony not turning up. Bruce may be his boyfriend but even he couldn’t control the man.

Down in the workshop Tony and Maria were arguing about what would be the best way to make her device water proof. “Ugh!” Maria exclaimed. “Mom was right. You _are_ impossible to work with.”

“ _I’m_ impossible? Oh, yeah, _I’m_ the impossible one. _I’m_ not the one who has practically no experience with this kind of thing but still being stubborn and refusing to listen to reason.”

“Yeah, because you always listen to reason the Great Tony Stark. I _really_ believe that.” The sarcasm dripped off her lips like venom.

“You know what, your mother had a very jaded view of me and you really shouldn’t pay attention to anything she said.” Tony grouched. Maria rolled her eyes.

“And _you_ obviously have a very jaded view of my mother. Why don’t you just get on with whatever it is you’re fiddling with at the moment and let me get on with this… _alone_.”

“Glad to.”

“Good. Do it then.”

“Fine, I will.”

“Fine.” Maria shouted.

“Fine!” Tony shouted back.

“Well I just walked in at the wrong time.” Bruce said rather cheerfully. “It’s gone midnight, Maria. Don’t you think you should be getting some sleep?”

“Why?”

“Because every human needs it to function. Now get, no arguments.”

“What about-”

“No arguments.” Bruce repeated. Maria grumbled while she tried to figure out a way to stall.

“You know, I still don’t actually know where I’m going around here.”

“Then Tony will show you and then go to bed himself.” Bruce gave Tony a flat stare, effectively cutting off any protests Tony might have made to the situation.

“Follow me.” Tony glared at Bruce’s smirk on the way out as he led his daughter back to her room. Once they were out of Bruce’s sight, and hearing, Tony started talking again. “You better learn how to navigate this place soon.” He hissed.

“Believe me, I will.” Maria said coldly.

Their relationship was off to a great start.


	5. Chapter 5

Maria refused to go to sleep that night on the grounds that she just didn’t want to do what Bruce said. It was childish, she knew that, but so was she. So, instead, she sat on her laptop all night, hacking into Tony’s files. She browsed through all of his old suit designs while writing notes on her tablet about what she would want to include in hers if she ever made one. By the time the sun rose, Maria looked like the living dead with massive black rings under her eyes. Deciding that she really didn’t want to be told off for staying up all night she dove straight for her make up to hide the dark marks from Bruce and Tony’s eyes.

Even though she was tired, Maria still decided she was going for a run. Yes, it was a little strange to do so after not sleeping for nearly twenty four hours, but Maria was just as strange as she was childish. She pulled her bag out from under the bed and grabbed some tracksuit bottoms and a clean top that she hadn’t worn just because. Feeling too tired to look for a pen and some paper Maria decided she’d just go and explain when she got back, if she wasn’t in trouble, that is.

She shrugged to herself thinking that it didn’t really matter, she didn’t care what they thought anyway. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail and slipped her trainers on her feet. She wondered if she should go get her stuff at some point. She figured she’d ask when she got back. Wow, she thought, I’m doing a lot when I get back.

Maria frowned while she tried to remember her way out. She’d been so caught up I silently fuming last night that she hadn’t concentrated on where the hell she was going. Instead of puzzling over it, she asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to tell her where to go.

“May I enquire as to where you are intending to go, Miss. Stark?” The AI asked politely.

“Um, I don’t really know. Just out… for a while. If they ask, tell them I’m fine and I’ll be back before night fall, yeah?”

“Of course, Miss. Stark. Be safe.”

“Sure.” Maria nodded before entering the elevator and going down. Bruce caught sight of the back of Maria’s head as she stepped into the lift. He frowned and tried to call out to her but the doors had closed and she couldn’t hear him. Bruce sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Did she tell you what she was doing, J.A.R.V.I.S.?” Bruce directed to the walls.

“Out, sir.”

“Out? Out where?”

“She didn’t say, sir. But she did say she would be back before nightfall if that is any help to you.”

“Not especially, but thanks anyway, J.A.R.V.I.S.”

“Any time, sir. If I can be of any more assistance this morning…”

“No, thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S., I think I’m fine now… Actually, could you tell Tony breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, thanks.”

“Of course, sir.” Bruce smiled to himself and moved into the kitchen to start preparing eggs for breakfast.

Fifteen, not ten, minutes later, Tony came into the kitchen. “Oooo, breakfast smells good.” Tony hummed when he walked in. “It not joining us then?”

“If ‘it’ is Maria, then no, she’s gone out somewhere.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice.” Tony smiled.

“Tony, she’s your daughter.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like her.”

“Tony.” Bruce warned.

“What? She’s a little brat with no respect for anyone.”

“Oh yeah, and who does that remind you of?” Tony didn’t answer. Bruce sighed and sat down next to him, placing a cup of coffee in front of the man. “Okay, what’s really going on in the stupid genius brain of yours, Sparks?” Tony’s head fell onto Bruce’s shoulder. “Come on, talk to me.”

“It’s nothing, I just… I just don’t wanna mess this up.” Bruce snorted.

“And this is how you’re going about it. Calling your daughter ‘it’?” Tony groaned and flopped off his chair, landing with a thud.”

“Owwwwwwwww.” Tony moaned.

“Hurt, dear?” Bruce smirked. “Called karma, it’s what you get for calling your daughter ‘it’.”

“Oh, ha ha, so very funny, Bruce. I’ll remember this next time something falls on you in your lab. I will remember and I will laugh. This will not go unpunished, Bruce Banner. Tony Stark will get his revenge.”

“Sure thing, Sparks.” Bruce slipped off his chair and moved to ruffled Tony’s hair. Tony glared up at the man and folded his arms across his chest petulantly, pouting. “Come on.” Bruce laughed. “Eat your breakfast, then we’re going on a hunt for Maria.”

“Why? She’ll be fine.” Tony waved off Bruce’s concern.

“Admit it, Tony, you’re worried. Your daughter, is running around New York, at six in the morning, alone, with no means of defence and you’re not worried. I don’t believe it.” Tony just stared at Bruce, unwilling to admit that the other scientist was right. “Okay, eat up, then we’re going looking.” Tony nodded and started eating his breakfast.

Maria had only been running for ten minutes before she ran into her first road bump. Drunk teenagers from Saturday night parties on a Sunday morning was not something she wanted to deal with. The guy she ran in to, not literally, was swaying on his feet. That was the first thing she noticed, the second was the trail of blood falling down the guy’s head. This was definitely not what the fourteen year old had wanted to do when she left earlier.

“Hey? Are you… are you okay?” Maria asked, unsure of what she should do for the teen. “Do you need an ambulance?” Maria felt around in her jacket pocket before realising that, shit, she hadn’t brought her phone with her, and there was no one else on the street. “Um,” Maria swallowed when she noticed the guy moving towards her. “I, um, I haven’t… I haven’t brought my phone with me. I’ll just, um, I’m gonna go find someone with a… with a phone.” Maria nodded to herself. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll go do that.” She glanced back up the street to where she could see people walking across the road.

“Nah, you’re pretty, Love. I wanna talk to you some more.” The blonde teen slurred, grinning.

“You need medical attention, and I don’t know first aid.” Maria tried to reason.

“No, you don’t, but you are alone.” Maria didn’t even want to think about what was going through that boy’s head. “No one here to care about you. Bet you’re a run away, you got that… Street hardened look in your eyes.” Maria’s eyes flashed in annoyance. “Bet your parents didn’t care about you. Bet they’re not even looking for you.” He leered in Maria’s face. There was no way for Maria to avoid the smell of alcohol that lingered on the blonde’s breath. She recoiled and almost fell flat on her back.

“Look, I just want to help.”

“I don’t need help, Lovie.”

“Well you certainly need a breath mint.” Maria muttered to herself. She felt two hands slam into her shoulders causing her to jump backwards and slam into a wall. “Get off me!” Maria yelled and threw a punch to the guy’s face.

The guy crumpled with a bleeding nose, bringing Maria down with him and slamming her head on the ground. Maria groaned as she sat up, a sudden wave of dizziness hitting her. She put her hand on the back of her head. It came back red.

She blacked out before she saw anything else.


	6. The Media Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tony and Bruce find Maria, so does the Media.

Bruce and Tony didn’t need to look for long before they heard Maria yelling. They shared a quick look of worry and sprinted in the direction of the voice. They arrived in time to see Maria punch the assailant and break his nose but not in time to stop her from crashing to the ground with him and hitting her head against the ground.

To say tony had been reluctant to admit caring about the girl not half an hour ago, he ran towards the girl as fast as he could, beating Bruce there by a good few seconds. Tony went to punch the guy who had attacked Maria again and break his nose in a second place but he was pulled back by Bruce’s hand. Bruce pointed to Maria’s closed eyes and the pool of red to the right side of her head. This halted Tony in his tracks.

“We need to get her to a hospital.” Bruce said.

“I… uh… I mean… Yeah, yeah, let’s do that.” Tony stuttered out. Bruce stared at the man for a second. Realising that Tony wasn’t going to be doing it any time soon, Bruce pulled out his cell phone and called for an ambulance. Neither of the men thought that they could’ve just taken her home and used the medical bay in place for the Avengers if they ever needed it. Neither of them really thought about the backlash from the world finding out that Tony Stark had a daughter. For two geniuses, they’d been pretty stupid.

So the ambulance came and went, carrying the bizarre family with it, and reporters quickly followed after getting reports of Anthony Stark being taken to hospital. The hospital’s security was fairly lax so a number of them got through to the waiting room and managed to get a few shots of Tony and Bruce waiting before they did get kicked out.

Maria didn’t wake up until the next day and with no recollection of what happened, just the biggest headache she had ever experienced in her life. Not a lot was said between the three of them while Maria was in the hospital. Doctors came and went. The blinds were snapped closed many times and newspapers and magazines were hidden from both Starks by Bruce.

By the time Maria was cleared to leave, who she may or may not be was still some of the biggest news out there. Because of this, she was greeted with a number of camera flashes when she stepped out of the hospital. She was quickly bundled into Tony’s waiting car and driven off. Tony was in some kind of unavoidable business meeting and Bruce had, well, nearly blown up his lab so neither was available to give her any kind of morale support when being faced with the paparazzi at Stark Tower.

She did, however, get to meet the famous Pepper Potts. Pepper had been asked by Tony to be waiting outside for Maria’s arrival. Glad for a bit of normalcy since their breakup, Pepper had said yes and hoped things were getting back to normal. Then she found out exactly who Maria was. She’d had the suspicion since the first time she saw the unconscious photo of the girl in the newspaper but hoped that it was something different. Maybe just someone Tony found in the street. But why would Tony have been up that early in the morning? But now she knew for sure, she was dreading the media attention this would cause. Of course, none of the reporters knew for sure that she was Tony’s daughter, but that seemed to be the general train of thought in all of them. And they obviously weren’t wrong.

Maria was reluctant to get out of the car when Happy opened the door for her. She saw the security holding back the media and panicked. Surely she wasn’t that interesting. She couldn’t be. She was plain old Maria. There was nothing interesting about her except her being Tony Stark’s daughter. Who, not only was one of the biggest and richest in the business, was also part of the avengers and had saved New York from a missile, nearly killing himself in the process. Of course there was nothing interesting about her.

Maria wondered if this was what her life was going to be from now on, constant cameras and scrutiny. She sincerely hoped not. She wasn’t sure she would be able to handle it. Maybe, she thought, when they get told the truth and have a picture or two, they’ll leave me alone. In her mind, she knew what a ridiculous thought that was, but she needed something to get her through it all.

“Maria.” Pepper greeted her. Maria smiled politely but didn’t say anything. “They’re both sorry they couldn’t be here themselves.” She continued, leading Maria inside and being careful not to mention anything about ‘farther’ while she was talking to Maria. “They had different, and separate, unavoidable… engagements.” Maria sniggered a little but she knew it wasn’t anything like that. She didn’t think Bruce would let Tony skip out on getting her from the hospital for something like that. But then again, she didn’t really know Bruce so it was entirely possible. Pepper rolled her eyes at the junior Stark; she was more like her father than Pepper might have wanted her to be, just so she was easier to deal with.

Pepper made a mental note to try and avoid letting either Stark speak at the press conference later that day. Even giving them cue cards she was sure they would both be disastrous and completely ignore them as Tony had done in the past. She didn’t want to have to deal with the media attention what they said might cause if they didn’t follow the cards. When they were safely inside the penthouse Pepper knew she could speak freely. “Your father’s in a business meeting and Bruce blew up his lab and is dealing with the clean-up.” Maria nodded at the explanation she finally got for their absence. “So you get to spend the next hour or so in here, with me.” Maria frowned. She didn’t want to be cooped up. Pepper, upon seeing the frown, added. “Or, we could go shopping?” Maria’s face brightened immediately. She may like cannibalising her gadgets, but when it came to shopping, she was a girl at heart. “I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll go when security had told us the paparazzi have left and we’ll sneak out the back, okay?”

Maria cheered and ran off, still not entirely sure where she was going but making it to her room in the end, anyway. She changed into a dress and ballet flats and pulled her hair into a fishtail braid that ran down and over her right shoulder. Pepper appeared at her door a few minutes after she had finished applying her makeup.

“Let’s go then.” She said. Maria nodded and followed Pepper out of the building. She was looking forward to this maybe a little too much. And, as Maria knew, when you look forward to things, they don’t tend to go as planned.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a terrible person and I broke my laptop last year and lost everything I had on this fic and had absolutely no motivation to rewrite something I'd already done because I couldn't remember anything I'd written. Luckily, I found the paper draft when I was clearing out my bedroom and now I kind of remember where this is going. So this is going to be a really really sort chapter (I am not exaggerating) because I have family visiting today and I wanted to get something up.
> 
> Enjoy

Maria was right, things didn’t go as planned. Rather than a nice, quiet shopping trip with a woman she’d just met, she was almost immediately surrounded by people with cameras, and not all of them reporters. Pepper tried to assure Maria that all the hype would die down eventually, they’d organise a press conference or interview or something that would get people off their backs, at least for a little while.

Maria did, however, get some very nice, very expensive new clothes. That part went well.

When she arrived back at the tower, it was not only to Tony and Bruce, but the rest of the Avengers as well. Including one, very angry, Nick Fury.

“Stark, we need you in the field! You can’t just blow all your suits up and say you’re done with it!” Fury snapped.

“As I recall, I was scrapped from the initiative before it even begun. You didn’t want me there; I’ve just given you a helping hand in trying to find a way to kick me out. I have no suits anymore; I’m not worth anything to you.” Tony drawled.

“Thought you said you might make a new suit if you were ever needed.” Maria said as she walked into the room. Tony glared at her.

“Well that was when I didn’t have a daughter to worry about who goes running around a city she doesn’t even know at six in the morning with no cell phone.” Tony snapped. Bruce glared at Tony and walked over to Maria.

“You should get some rest.” He mumbled while Tony and Fury continued to argue.

“I’m fine. I’ve done nothing but rest for three days. I need food.” Maria folded her arms over her chest.

“You were unconscious for nearly two days, you aren’t fine. Go to bed and I’ll bring you something when this, uh, meeting is finished.” The stare Bruce fixed on Maria left no room for arguments and so she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room, swearing under her breath on the way. She’d never been good with authority, her mother most definitely included, and she wasn’t warming up to Bruce or Tony yet.

An hour later, Maria had put all of her clothes away and the ‘meeting’ seemed no closer to being done than it had when she first walked in. Sighing, Maria went down to the workshop to test her mp3 player's new waterproof coating and to find a way to make its screen more responsive.


End file.
